Page:The Specimen Case.djvu/186

Rh "Pest of God!" cried the physician with sudden heat; "is the city mad? Juggler, charm-trucker, miracle-monger, poison-dabbler! Does time hang so heavy on your hands, monsieur?"

"On the contrary," replied the young man languidly, "having only six months of it left, I thought that I had better begin making myself acquainted with the sights of which one hears so much."

De la Spina stared, took snuff, and then vouchsafed a laugh.

"Well, and how did the Mouthpiece-of-Light receive you?"

"Very shortly indeed," replied the Marquis. "Prefacing that he had expected me, he informed me that the stars promised me a long and untroubled life, and then excused himself further detail on the plea that a future so devoid of problems was quite destitute of interest to himself."

A saturnine grin flickered about de la Spina's swart features.

"A long and untroubled life?" he repeated musingly.

"So he interpreted the stars," said the Marquis gravely.

"Spent doubtless among them?"

It was Hautepierre's turn to smile.

"One may hope so," he replied. "It is a better prospect than your six months on earth."

"Depends. Not in Paris, I should wager some would say."

"Ah! that might imperil both."

"I can only answer for my department," said the physician, dropping the jest and leaning forward to give point to his emphasis. "And meaning by such-and-such—well, so-and-so, rest certain that it will. A single deviation from the straightest conservation of your